1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of depositing a doped semiconductor onto a base material. The method is applicable to the manufacture of photovoltaic cells and semiconductor electronic apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Most semiconductor products in commercial use today, including photovoltaic cells and semiconductor electronic devices, are produced using the crystal form of semiconductor material. It has long been recognized that inexpensive photovoltaic cells, which will be required if large commercial usage of the direct conversion of sunlight to electricity is achieved, will not be possible utilizing the crystal form of semiconductor due to the expense involved and the limitations encountered in the production of crystalized form of such semiconductors. Amorphous semiconductors have found limited commercial application because of the difficulty of incorporating N or P doping agents.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method of utilizing amorphous semiconductor material in a manner wherein it may be deposited onto a base material simultaneously with the deposition of a doping agent.
Another and more specific object of this invention is to provide a method of depositing a doped amorphous semiconductor onto a base in which the semiconductor and dopant are supplied in gas form and are thereby easily controllable and adaptable to mass production techniques.
These general objects as well as other and more specific objects of the invention will be fulfilled in the following description and claims, taken in conjunction with the attached drawings.